Dr. Antonia Gardner with the South Florida Wildlife Center said the bird not only had the hook in its stomach, but was also shot twice – “one in his wing, one in either his back or abdomen area.”

People on Delray Beach found the Gannet Monday morning just sitting on the beach. Those birds are normally either bobbing on the water or flying over it. When it didn’t move, they knew something was very wrong.

“You could definitely see a string and the gentleman felt his neck and you could feel the (hook) in his throat. We knew he was in bad shape,” said Deborah Dexter who helped the bird.

That’s when people nearby jumped into action and rescued the bird. Dexter found out, even injured, this is a strong animal.

The bird eventually made it to the operating table at the South Florida Wildlife Center.

A bird -with a large hook stuck in his stomach- underwent life-saving surgery on Feb. 23, 2016. (Source: CBS4)

Tuesday’s tricky surgery was successful, but the bird likely suffered from infection due to internal tearing caused by the hook.

The teachable moment in all this is properly dispose of those fishing lines and hooks.

“It makes me feel like we all have to take care of our world and clean up our mess,” said Lori Leveen.